I'll post pictures as soon as I have enough energy to unpack and get the photos off the camera and on the computer.

Daniel and I had a pretty good weekend fishing. Fished through a couple pretty good rain showers and caught some decent fish.

We fished the middle prong without much luck on Saturday. I think we were behind someone else. We were fishing between the 1 lane bridges and when we drove up to the parking area to turn around, saw a couple guys coming up off the stream.

We decided to go up high and go after brookies. What was amazing was all Saturday afternoon and for about 3 hours on Sunday, we had the stream to ourselves. We probably covered a mile or so of stream each day and didn't see another fisherman. The only people we saw was a family with kids throwing rocks and splashing around in the stream by one of the pull offs on the road up to Newfound Gap. The girls were about 4 or 5 and were having a lot of fun playing in the cold water. Even though we had to move on up stream to get into fish again, it was nice to see a young family having so much fun in the park. They were out enjoying the park the same as we were.

We did manage to catch quite a few brookies. Nothing big (all in the 4-8" range) but they were fun. Most were caught on yellow bodied Adams but I think any light color dry fly would have worked. Daniel caught several on a light cahill dry. Only one fish hit the dropper BHPT and that was a rainbow. Highest elevation I've ever caught a bow. It was in a very deep pool (probabl 5' or so deep).

We did try Parson's Branch up in Cade's Cove with no fish. I love the view in Cade's Cove. It's one of the prettiest places on the planet. However, driving there at 2:30 in the afternoon on a holiday weekend is something I would not advise. Traffic was bumper to bumper all the way around with the required turkey, deer and one bear jam just to add to the excitement. The bear jam, I can almost understand. But why stop in the middle of the road to take a picture of a turkey? But like the kids playing in the stream, it was mostly families out enjoying the park just the same as Daniel and I were. Other than stopping traffic to take a picture of a turkey, we didn't see any exceptionally stupid behavior (well, one guy relieving himself behind a tree, but in that traffic, I can understand the urge).

stupid to take a pic of a turkey?? so many times i've seen people completely ignore turks, even close up, to watch some often distant deer. turks are classic birds. colorful, interesting sounds and when you spook one, can scare the crap out of you. perhaps a turk pic that requires a traffic stoppage is a bit of a stretch, but I still believe picturing a turk is always worth it. just trying to give you a hard time...glad yall had fun in the park. and yes. cades cove is one of the most beautiful scenes...except in bumper to bumper traffic.

stupid to take a pic of a turkey?? so many times i've seen people completely ignore turks, even close up, to watch some often distant deer. turks are classic birds. colorful, interesting sounds and when you spook one, can scare the crap out of you. perhaps a turk pic that requires a traffic stoppage is a bit of a stretch, but I still believe picturing a turk is always worth it. just trying to give you a hard time...glad yall had fun in the park. and yes. cades cove is one of the most beautiful scenes...except in bumper to bumper traffic.

Agreed, turkeys are pretty birds. But to stop the car in the middle of the road, the entire family get out, walk over to the fence and take a dozen pictures, only to do the same 1/4 mile down the road where the next couple birds are in the field and to do it all the way around the loop road?

Yes, they were doing it that way, but I couldn't even get mad. They were out there enjoying the park the same as I was. With the clouds shrouding the peaks and the brilliant greens of the trees and grass, it was kind of a magical time to be up there.

Nothing exceptionally stupid other than the guy up by Elkmont who was trying to ride his Harley in the rain going too fast and wiped it out on one of the curves. Luckily, he wasn't hurt too bad. He and his wife/girlfriend were able to get up under their own power and with a little help got the bike back upright and rode off on it.

Hey guys. Thought I'd chime in on the weekend report. I fished Friday and Saturday morning. Friday was good. Caught 10 bows on Sams Creek and Thunderhead Prong. Would have caught more, but got caught by bad thunderstorm (hail and all) and was fishing with young fly fisherman that is still ealy on in the learning curve. He did manage to catch one though. But I spent time "teaching" him some things to help his casting or increase his odds in getting hooked up.

Saturday morning, the water was a little high up in there. The "still" pools were rolling. Did manage to catch one. Yellow EHC and BHPT were the best for me.

Only time we saw ANYONE else fishign was on our drive home along the road around Tremont. Great trip!

this last weekend's fishing was somewhat strange. managed a few nice bows before the rain...nothing after. i did have one significant strike on a #4 wooly bugger though; never got to see it. was awesome to watch the stream in tremont go from clear to latte in the blink of an eye. very mesmerizing. glad i wasn't wading.

as for the turk shooters in the cove, would be much, much nicer if they would pull over before i give them a bird to shoot....at least they're outside though.

i used to work at books a million in sevierville and i couldn't tell you how many times i saw gray-haired bikers wipe out....in the parking lot.

all in all, a purty good weekend. (except for some fish that now inhabit my freezer)

[QUOTE=jeffnles1;81171 I love the view in Cade's Cove. It's one of the prettiest places on the planet. However, driving there at 2:30 in the afternoon on a holiday weekend is something I would not advise. Traffic was bumper to bumper all the way around with the required turkey, deer and one bear jam just to add to the excitement. The bear jam, I can almost understand. But why stop in the middle of the road to take a picture of a turkey? But like the kids playing in the stream, it was mostly families out enjoying the park just the same as Daniel and I were. Other than stopping traffic to take a picture of a turkey, we didn't see any exceptionally stupid behavior (well, one guy relieving himself behind a tree, but in that traffic, I can understand the urge).

Jeff[/QUOTE]

I usually see my fair share of unsavory characters in the Cove, along with the idiots who find it absolutely necessary to chase the deer, bear, turkey, squirrels, rabbits, birds, skunks, etc. Stay in your cars people!

A couple years ago when I was there a minivan from out of state (Hint: state begins with a P). The whole family parked and got out to chase down a deer in the field. They left their vehicle parked in the middle of the road, so we had no choice but to wait on them to return. As they were walking past on the return one of the children, probably 8 or 9 years old, asked one of the adults how old does a deer have to be before it becomes an elk. Silence, no response. My wife and I couldn't help but laugh at such and innocent question, but were laughing harder because the parents appeared to have no clue.

I take for granted having the park so close to home. But everytime I travel I am greeted with a view of the Smokies as I land at TYS, and I give a small thank you to the man above for such a beautiful place and the freedom to enjoy it. Hope you have many more opportunities to sit behind tourists taking pictures of various animals that probably rank lower on your excitement radar.